Young Moderns

While the “Old Guard” continued to play a prominent role in the cultural life of the city, it was increasingly a new generation that was responsible for the period’s most significant developments in the arts, literature, music, and fashion. With New York having become the nation’s capital for those wishing to pursue careers in these fields, young men and women with ambition flocked to the city. These “Young Moderns” found there not simply opportunities, but an extensive network of individuals and groups who were experimenting with ideas of creative expression. Ben-Yusuf was herself

representative of this trend. The figures in this section include a sampling of those young men and women who were a part of the movement to remake America at the dawn of the twentieth century.next sectionThe New York Stage